Since I got my bicycle(s) last year, I've done dozens of Free Daily Rides with the Cascade Bicycle Club (CBC.)
Most of my bicycle mileage so far has been on these rides. More so in 2008 since I haven't been back to California with my bicycle since the end of 2007. And I haven't done a whole lot of event rides like I did last year.
With all the CBC daily rides that are out there -- some 1,200 a year -- there's usually some ride I'm interested in joining. But not always. And the ride leaders out on the weekday rides have been saying they're tired of leading or want a break. And the popular rides often have so many people that extra leaders always help, especially for those wanting a faster or slower pace.
Becoming a ride leader is quite easy. Ride three times with CBC. Then go to a 2-1/2 hour orientation. Then co-lead 2 rides.
So what does a leader do? Aside from filling out paperwork so we can call somebody in case of emergency, track and help with accidents and problems; mostly it's group cohesion and safety issues you worry about. Seattle Bike Club pretty much treats every rider as a leader, but with the 10,000 or so CBC members they are after a bit more organization.
Interesting things: CBC wants to have more ride leaders lead beginning riders, kids, and slower riders. They want more weekend rides. (I'm apparently not that necessary.) Biggest complaints are from ride leaders not following the posted pace of the ride. Serious accidents are quite rare. (Most accidents are due to people riding too closely; when a front tire touches a rear tire an accident usually results.) It takes six months to "earn" a bicycle jersey. Ride leaders often call participants after the ride if they had problems.
Once I co-lead a couple of rides I get to schedule my own rides through the website. I'll mention what those are on the blog. Maybe this fall I'll do night rides with my singlespeed?
Most other people there had very specific scenario questions and I think most of the responses from the teachers came down to either "use your judgment" or "this isn't adult daycare". Most concerns were about those riders who can't take care of themselves on a ride. CBC ride leaders don't have any responsibility to resolve mechanical issues or rescue sick riders. In an emergency, a ride leader is expected to stay with the cyclist but mostly we were told to delegate, if possible these tasks, since very often there's a lot of things going on at once: make that 911 call, call their emergency contact, deal with the person's bicycle, keep the ride going or turn it around, fill out reports, deal with traffic, get first aid, etc.
One other thing to note: Practically anybody can lead a ride. We had fat people in that "didn't like hills" and wanted to lead 10-12 mph rides. There's a lot of newbie fatties interested in rides as well.
]]>]]>What's your favorite song with "America" or "USA" in the title? Bonus points if you share it with us.
I happen to have just the thing.
I rode a hot 65 miles Saturday on Gary's "first annual" ride to Barlow Pass. Here's the pictures. I'm here and here and here. I was wearing my Vietnam bike tour jersey. I didn't know cyan was my color.
It was hot but a couple of streams of water brought cold air down from the mountains. Plenty of views of Big Four along the way, lots of streams and scenery and I'm planning on returning. (I would probably start in the National Forest area next time, as there's not much to see until that point. But if I happen to bring my single-speed with fat tires, I'd go ahead and try for the actual Mountain Highway loop.)
I was a bit tired but worse than the climb (about 2000' feet) was the heat. Plus was a lack of water along the ride and back at the start. And I was hot my car, which has broken air conditioning and (again) worse is the amazing amount of solar gain is has.
Hitomi didn't go, though next time she must... We were riding the "Tour de Pierce" instead, which turned out to be equally as hot but more miserable due to a lack of shade and a surprising lack of facilities, such as "water stops" except at one station 17 miles from the start. You can see pictures from Hitomi's blog; pictures she uploaded in realtime using her cellphone features.
Hint: If you haven't bought local strawberries yet, and you're in Washington, they're ripe and ready to be incorporated into dessert. Or eaten fresh. After six months of crappy Californian imported strawberries (pulpy unripened flavourless overgrown fruit) we now have our local crop to enjoy.
From a route standpoint, one of the enigmatic parts of "Tour de Pierce" was although we got tantilizingly close to downtown Tacoma, which despite its reputation is actually kind of interesting, the route ended up going north ajacent to Port of Tacoma. It'd be like having a King County tour that only went through parts of the Duwamish area or Interlaken rather than got you to bike through the Seattle Waterfront.
And actually, a lot of the 50-mile route seemed to be selected specifically for collecting miliage, rather than any particular scenic value. Whatever scenery there was might have happened by accident. Maybe it was the heat making me cranky?
I'm not a route expert but this is what I would have done. Map the nicest areas to ride in the vincity, the ones with the most scenery or vegitation or whatever. Pick among the roads that connect those areas. Calculate milage for various routes. Chose a variety of distances for these routes. Anyway, it doesn't seem hard to me. As it turns out, it was put on by the government who I guess don't have many cyclists employed.
]]>via Northerngeek
Ladies and gentlemen, please direct your Google Street View to 3186 San Pablo Ave. Emeryville, CA
You can go to Northerngeek's Vox to spoil the surprise, but why not just go have a look?
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